Hi H-CostumeLers - If her gown is made from more than about 4 yards of fabric, she might want to consider hanging it on a costume-made padded hanger/torso covered with a shroud made from a clean cotton (or cotton/polyester 60:40) sheet. I've witnessed the huge amount of wrinkling and creasing from dresses and gowns that are stuffed in to boxes (whether archival or not) that were waay too small. As a costume/textile conservator, one of my favorite sayings is "ounce of prevention = pound of cure". Even when the gown/dress is made from a synthetic fibre fabric, you shouldn't be crushing the fabric in to creases when you don't have to. It is also easier to store a gown/dress on a padded hanger/torso as you can just hang it in a closet in a part of the house that doesn't get too hot (so no unregulated spaces like attics and garages). You want to avoid cardboard boxes (whether waxed, archival or not) if your relative humidity is not well controlled - the paper cardboard acts like a sponge and holds on to the moisture from the air on humid days - when gowns/dresses are stored in higher RH, the mold/mildew spores on them will start their growth cycle. From my disaster response experience, I avoid the use of tissue paper (whether buffered, non-buffered, archival or not) for stuffing because when the tissue paper gets wet in a disaster, it reverts to paper pulp - which has to then be manually picked off. Padding and stuffing out with cotton/cotton-polyester fabric is a much better way to go. Plus the fabric can be rinsed periodically and re-used while the tissue paper has to be discarded and new purchased.
I too have heard horror stories about brides opening up their "packaged by the drycleaner" gowns only to find that the gown enclosed is not theirs! Or had been padded out with acidic cardboard, or was stuffed in to such a small box, that the creasing could not be removed...or had such extensive staining, it was obvious that the gown had not been drycleaned before boxing. The unscrupulous drycleaners cover their a**** by telling you that if you open the box, their "guarantee/warranty" is voided. And charge a fortune. Of course, when you open up the box years later, the drycleaner is no longer in business. MUCH better to do the storage work yourself!! <now stepping down from her soapbox> Please feel free to contact me off-list if you need further information or clarification. Regards, Meg . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___________ Margaret E. Geiss-Mooney Textile/Costume Conservator & Collections Management Consultant Professional Associate - AIC 707-763-8694 m...@textileconservator.com ...pack up her wedding gown for safe keeping but didn' like the price of having someone do it for her. The gown is not silk or anything. It's all synthetic I think. (It's really beautiful even if it is synthetic) I told her she just needs to stuff it and wrap it in acid free tissue paper and put it in a box that is not plastic. I remember we used to store things in the costume shop at school, and also a friend of mine that collected vintage, in waxed cardboard boxes. ... _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
